Now that sounds more like my kind of sailing adven...

Now that sounds more like my kind of sailing adventure! - Posted on 15th Jun, 2006 at 06:13

The latest update from dad and Manu! A month has crawled by without being able to get away on Manu.

The weekendshave either been to windy or family commitments have won. I’m getting desperate. Now it’s Saturday.

I’ve been with Quinn at soccer in the morning and we’ve had lunch. I’m looking at the weather forecast. Wind warning in place again – damn.

An hour later I have a another look. Well it does say the souwesterly will ease from 20 knots to 15 knots overnight. Then tomorrow it will move around to the north rising to 35 knots by evening.

Hmmmm…. Maybe Mahurangi would be safe? Tide is 6 pm.

OK – let’s do it. Quinn is quite happy to look after himself for an hour or so until Sue gets home. Sort out the clothes, towel, toothbrush, bedding and the camping gear, the navigation gear, the food and drink, gas for the stove, petrol for the outboard, sails, motor.

Load all of this into the station wagon. Uncover the boat and get it ready to roll. Hey, it’s after 4 pm.

I have to have a couple of goes at backing the boat down the ramp – get rusty on this pretty quickly. Down at the ramp it is pretty sheltered but out on the water the wind is still quite strong. Ray comes in on his wind surfer and warns me that it gets pretty windy when the rain squalls come across.

OK – I make a note to be extra careful of these as I rig the boat. It all goes quite smoothly. Launch the boat, unload the gear onto the boat, take the car and trailer home and run back down the ramp, slide the boat off the shore and motor 100 metres out.

At anchor I pack the gear away. I enjoy doing this – mucking about on the water has started. Everything has its place and before long I am pulling up the sail.

My head is cold! No hat! I call Quinn on the cell phone and he runs down the ramp with it to meet me.

He pushes me off and we farewell. Soon I have the sheets in and Manu picks up speed heading nor-norwest. Ray is right.

The wind picks up and soon I am flying a hull and dancing over the waves at 12 knots – a bit on the edge for cruising on my own in gathering darkness so I ease the sheets. To the southwest a very dark sky is moving up fast. About halfway to Mahurangi it catches up on me.

The winds aren’t too bad but the rain is getting heavy. I heave to, rip off the main hatch and dig out the brolly. With the hatch back on and the brolly up everything is keeping pretty dry.

Now it is getting dark fast. Before it got dark I had set up the GPS with the Mahurangi route and now it so reassuring because I can't see much. I have about 3 miles to get to the entrance of the harbour.

There is no sign of the light on the end of Saddle Island but from the vague silhouettes I can confirm that the gps is right again. Soon I am motor-sailing against the tide into the Mahurangi. A quick cell phone call to home to say I’ve arrived safely.

The rain has almost stopped and I can see the distant anchor light of a boat moored at Mita Bay. I decide Mita Bay will suit me well promising shelter and calm water for the night. I putter into the bay anchor in closer to the shore than the other boats but still with about 3 metres of water under me I won’t go aground at low water around midnight.

Although it is pitch dark I soon have the tent up. My little head lamp is so useful. I soon have some Uncle Ben’s rice bubbling away on the cooker and I am sitting comfortably on a camping chair, quite warm and sipping a nice cold Heineken.

Dinner is rice and tuna with basil sauce eaten in the isolated silence. The almost ful moon has come out from behind the clouds and through the open flaps of the tent all looks so beautiful and still - the calm moon lit water, the big hills sheltering me and a couple of ducks checking me out in their before bed time patrol. About 8 pm I prepare for bed – pumping up the air bed, laying out the foam sleeping mat and Sue’s thick feather down sleeping bag.

I snuggle into the cocoon and I’m soon drifting off with the gentle boat movements and sounds. I do enjoy sleeping on the boat. I awake at dawn.

Yes, Mita Bay is magic and yes, the ducks are swimming out to greet me. After breakfast I motor into the shore and climb up to the lookout point. The day is sunny with small fluffy white clouds.

No sign yet of the 35 knot winds that are said to be coming though a slight breeze is now coming from the north west. From up here I can see most of the Mahurangi harbour, Saddle Island and the Whangaparaoa peninsular. A few boats move lazily out on the sea.

I’m torn between spending some quality time on the Mahurangi and scurrying home to be clear of the predicted strong onshore winds. I compromise by returning to the boat and puttering across to have a look at Lagoon bay and having a coffee . I reluctantly repack the boat, take the tent down and hoist sail for home.

The breeze is very gentle and I find myself lazily running at about 3.8 knots before a northerly breeze. Halfway back I heave to and dig out some lunch and a beer.

This is very easy sailing– steering with my feet and lying back in my comfy seat while enjoying lunch. After checking out the gps I decide that I will arrive home before there is enough water at the ramp and so head for Tyndalls. I take a look at Sean’s trimaran “Tribesman” and then slowly work my way back along the coast to home.

There isn’t enough water to get near the ramp so I anchor the boat and pop up to the house for a cup of tea and to wait or the tide. Nice to behome safe and sound. Later that night the strong winds did arrive working their way up to gustsof 60 knots and in the morning taking out the power for the whole Auckland region – but that’s another story.

Love dad




You know when your acclimatized when… - Posted on 12th Jun, 2006 at 10:20


The other night I was dreaming about New Zealand, some thing I do fairly regularly, but this time I noticed that the cars were driving on the right side of the road and if that wasn’t enough, everyone had Canadian accents. Cheers for the update on Auckland conditions…strange that no emailed me in the past 3 days to let fill me in. But what I read I the NZ Herald it sounded pretty amazing.

Dad did you catch the ferry home from work? Now THAT would have been an interesting trip. Bet your not too unhappy about being stuck at home!

!! Better than in an elevator like a whole bunch of poor sods… Things are really nice here…it’s been sunny here all week with lovely cool temperatures (mostly under 30 degrees) so I have been very happy.

Last night I had another swing dancing lesson…I’m slowly getting better…I figure at two lessons a week I can only get better. It also provides a great place to meet interesting people…there is such a diverse group of dancers all ages and all backgrounds. I’m still painting and riding my bike and the seeds I planted in the veggie garden have all come up…now I just have to fight off the raccoons.

Work…well…umm…I have polished up my C.V and have emailed it two a few hopeful job offers. I’m still a bit dubious about HRDC’s response.

I think I will probably have more luck with the “Highly skilled worker” application. Will keep you posted. I entered my story “Seamus the tooth fairy” into a local library writers comp.

I figured it can’t hurt…have to wait for months for the results…I guess they get thousands of entrees…imagine having to read them all…Yikes! Skype…Well I at the library from about 2-4pm most days…haven’t seen anyone on line recently…4pm in Canada is about 8am in New Zealand.




Painting, painting, painting - Posted on 4th Jun, 2006 at 11:00


This week has been mostly dedicated to painting, almost completed the lounge with help from Mary and Jane.

It’s looking so much better now the pink is receding. We have almost won the battle against the peptobismol pink. I also went plant shopping with Mary and got lots of wonderful flowers for the garden.

Unfortunately due to the rather small growing season, if you wanted to grow things from cuttings or seed you would need to start much earlier in the season. Otherwise they just don’t get a chance to really get going before it starts to get cold again. I took my bike for an off road challenge the other day, what I thought was a gentle ride around a lake ended up with a very interesting ride through the wilderness, what looked like a track turned out to be simply an animal trail, full of holes, covered with fallen trees and stinging nettle.

(Yes it really does sting) But at least I didn’t run into any poison ivy. Even if the going was difficult, it gave me a sense of adventure, not knowing where the heck I was or was going to end up. I also ran into some really large mosquitoes…never seen anything like them in my life!

!! Eventually I escaped the dark forest and ended up miles and miles away from home.

I had my first swing-dancing lesson in Waterloo on Monday, it was, I admit a little intimidating. There were no other dancers for the beginner lesson, so I had two instructors critiquing my every step. It was rather intense session but also Jane tells me very successful.

*sigh I still miss tango. Starting again kind of a pain. I’m still really enjoying my piano and in my spare time trying to finish off my children’s next story.

I miss having Cam around for brain storming.




Another week passes in Waterloo - Posted on 29th May, 2006 at 04:40


Today (Sunday) I spent the day playing piano, fixing my bike and pruning the next door neighbours large, looks like its never been pruned tree. The weather turned on the temperature (about 30 something degrees) and boy was I sweating while I swung around the tree, cutting limb to limb.

After my ride to St. Jacob’s yesterday (2 hour trip) to check out a Mennonite Museum and the old township, I decided I had to do something about my bike…the wheels were so wobbly and the tires were beginning to rub against the bike frame. Everything mostly works now…I didn’t have the tools for fixing the spokes.

..but the bike is largely improved.

This week I’m going to try and make my first Ginger Beer Plant, with the summer heat and only carbonated, flavored root beer available…its just not the same now is it. Mostly things are going very well, its taken me a while to get used to living with two Women after living alone for a year and before that living with Cam. I think the biggest differences stem from my New Zealand way of doing things…I get some odd looks, and puzzled expressions.

I got this wonderful email from Hellen the other day and thought I would share! We flew out on Friday at 6am in the morning - so it was another sleep at Stansted airport for me! We got into Venice at 8:30am which gave us heaps of time to get lost and we really did!

We wandered the streets for hours asking people how to cover the next 40 metres before their directions made no sense and we had to either try find our own way (and get more lost) or ask again! I hadn't slept the night before, cold tile floors aren't the best to catch a good nights sleep on, so my italian was crap. It really is an amazing maze - even if you have a sense of direction you still end up walking in circles!

You get distracted all the way because everything is so beautiful and enticing but also there are a million bridges and houses with flower pots and they all start to look the same. We didn't find our room till 6pm, but that didn't stop me grabbing just a quick shower and getting back on the boat to check out more places. I had the sweetest sleep that night though!

The city really is astoundingly beautiful and the weather was wicked! And something about being by the sea just woke me up instantly. I think inside been pining for sea for a while now.

Since we only had three days I don't have a huge descriptive story line but this is what I remember most vividly and also recommend: I sat by the Rialto bridge, watched boat life pass me by and drank wine from the bottle (for which I was getting lots of appreciative smiles from the locals for). I bought some corn and fed pigeons in the main square - san marco - I must have had 50 birds trying to perch on me at one point. Who knew they loved corn so much?

?? (Lucky I've never seen that Alfred Hitchcock Birds movie).

We climbed the tower in the centre and looked down on Venice - such a crazy place. It is a lot like living on a film set or something. One of the best places was the Island we went to on the last day - Burano.

All the houses are painted in the brightest chromachy or primary colours. I was thinking if I lived there it would be impossible to get depressed. It was BRIGHT!

We went on a Sunday - which at the time I thought must have been washing day cause everyone had hung their washing but on hindsight after consulting several postcards I started thinking that maybe they put the washing out as a tourist feature. I mean it was colour coordinated and everything! It did look really cool and it seemed like everyone was extra house proud of their bonbon coloured town houses!

So now I'm back in London again - feeling more settled than the other times I've arrived back here. It's nice to have a few more regular people to hang with and places that you already know are cool. Today I caught up with cousin Jessie and her boyfriend Paul in Leicester Square.

Nice to have some family close by finally! She seems really excited to be here although she is having trouble finding work as a lawyer. Hope those of you who can receive pictures via email have managed to open them all.

Mum you'll have ask someone in the family to show you since yours is the only address that is too small to take photos. I do hope this email finds you all well. Lots of love Hellen xxx










Back in Waterloo - Posted on 23rd May, 2006 at 08:30


After not getting much sleep over the last week, due to overnight bus trips, Newark’s sirens, car alarms and other loud noises, I was very glad to get back to Waterloo.

On my second night back in Waterloo I went to bed at 8pm and didn’t get out of bed until 8am. What a difference a good night sleep can do! For once it feels like I’m beating the flu rather than it beating me.

The border crossing at Buffalo went ok…about 5 minutes of questions…but nothing compared to my airport experience. Since I got back I have been helping Mary out with painting the house. So far we have painted the basement and complete one of the upper bedrooms.

I came to the conclusion that my neck doesn’t really appreciate painting ceilings. It’s a nice feeling seeing the rooms change in character as the paint goes on…not sure why the last owner wanted to paint the house pink…but some colours should be outlawed.




Sailing Adventures!

- Posted on 21st May, 2006 at 15:26


Here's an email I received from dad. It sounded like quite the adventure!!

! I’m very glad that all went well in the end and that you didn’t end up being rescued by the coast guard! Thanks for all the vivid images!

!! I really loved it!

Yes, I've had a dose of sailing - and lived to tell the tale. I took 1/2 a day leave on Friday and set off with much enthusiasm. I was a little concerned about the weather report - north-easterlies 10 to 20 knots, but the weather map showed a great big high over New Zealand so I figured it would be quite stable.

About 10 knots of sou-easterly carried me quickly to Kawau.. What a beautiful sail.

Then I was at South Cove. It was like visiting an old friend - nothing changed and all the character that I know and like - calm and quiet with bush and birds right down to the water. A Heineken and tuna/basil/tomatoe with crackers accompanied the sunset.

About 10 pm it started - 25 to 35 knot gusts belting down the valley. My anchor was holding ok but the little tent tied down to the deck was sounding like a machine gun. Couldn't do much about it so I eventually got myself off to sleep only to be awakened by torrents of rain forcing their way through the fabric of the tent.

After a crazy few minutes of frantically getting most of my gear under some cover I pulled the big yellow hatch cover over the top of me and lay in my cocoon/coffin while the storm did its worst. In the morning when I pushed back the hatch the scene was a bit depressing but at least my sleeping bag and most of my clothes were dry. The tent was still making intermittent machine gun sounds but the rain had gone.

I lifted anchor and motored around the corner to the beach next to the old copper mine where that magic stillness was found again. While I had breakfast I listened to the Coastguard weather report - not good. They now had a wind warning in place - like stay at home - don't even think of going sailing after midday.

The rest of the weekend sounded pretty bad too. I decided to see if I could get home before the bad stuff really started or plan b - get to Mahurangi from where I could put the boat on it's trailer. I broke camp and set sail with the mainsail reefed down to about 1/2 its normal area.

When I poked my nose out past the end of Kawau all hell broke loose. BIG mountain waves, sea covered with white spume and fierce gusts that made my reefed sail seem way over canvassed. Shiver me timbers!

!! No way I was going to sail home so plan b.

Well! Running before the wind and waves was doable but challenging. The boat surfs well and has plenty of buoyancy in the bow but there was a danger of falling off some of the big breaking waves - 3 metres at a guess.

I was kept very busy on my sleigh ride down these bouncy mountains and after a while I found myself shaking uncontrollably. But it was also exhilarating in a deep way; being so close to the power of the sea, the speed of the ride and successfully managing - not much choice on that :-) Actually the boat handled the conditions very well and there were no moments where it felt out of control or overwhelmed. Just my mind thinking what if?

?? Motuketekete and Motorekareka islands whizzed by and then as I approached the Mahurangi I sailed through some big swells that fortunately were not breaking.

In the troughs I lost most of my wind but as I climbed up we would take off again. Eventually I was safely in the Mahurangi where I found idyllic tranquility again in the Pukapuka inlet. Just the faint sound of wind and waves could be heard.

Overnight the wind eased down to 20 to 25 knots but with the promise of 35 knots later in the day. I was galvanised into action and sailed off at 7 am still with a reef in my mainsail and with my jib furled. The voyage home was very bumpy but compared with the day before - quite tame.

I bumped and splashed my way across the bay to the haven of Fisherman's Rock. Here conditions were good and I made an easy landing and retrieved the boat onto its trailer with no fuss. What a relief!

New York Collage - Posted on 19th May, 2006 at 05:26


After a belated start...

Ray’s luggage finally turned up at the airport...

a day later! Then it was a quick trip on the NJ Transit, then the Path, then Metro subway, all the way to Columbia University. Here we started our tour of NYC.

Over the day we visited most of the tourist traps...

had lunch in mid-town central park, then made our way all the way down to Battary Park. I can now say I have taken all modes of transportation in NYC: busses, trains, subways and now boats. We took a ferry to the stature of liberty and around the harbour and up under the bridges.

Unfortunately the rain decided to bucket down at about that point. So the rest of the cruise was spent inside. For dinner we took the subway back to Soho and went to a delicious Italian restaurant La Dolce Vita.

..only down side was the fact it had a duke box that kept pouring out really crap pop tunes.

By the time I got back I was thoroughly exhausted and decided for an early night...

still fighting of my sinus/throat/chest infection. Blah. Today is Alei’s Graduation followed by a early 4:30am wake up and a very long bus ride back to Toronto.

*Sigh




































NYC - Posted on 17th May, 2006 at 07:29


Monday night I spent ridding a greyhound down from Waterloo to New York. All things considered the trip was one of the easiest yet, quick 12 hours with American Customs to boot. It was by far the nicest boarder crossing yet!

I didn’t have a barrage of questions yelled at me; in fact they were less aggressive then Canadian Customs...

which is kind of a strange reverse. When I arrived in NYC it was raining cats and dogs..

.but soon enough the sun came out and I went exploring around the city. First on my list was the Frick Collection, located on Fifth Avenue.

Frick was a pioneer in the steel industries and was a collector of fine art works. Walking around the gallery was very much like 7th Form Art History. Shame we couldn’t have come to study the real things, rather than the tiny copies in our textbooks.

You just don’t have any idea of the size and scope of the paintings until you stand in front of them...

some were from floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall. After spending a few hours perusing around the Frick Mansion I spent a couple of hours exploring central park before dinner. I took the subway back to downtown and went to Baluchi’s in Soho.

..a nice Indian restaurant with great food and service, but be prepared to take a doggy-bag home with you as the meals are very large.

After dinner I walked around Soho and visited the massive Apple store there. I got to climb the glass staircase and had my first look at a Mac book running pro applications. Three subway systems later and I’m back in Newark and so tired from my lack of sleep on the bus that I was nodding off on the couch at 10pm.

Today is pretty quiet...

I’m chilling this morning, meeting Alei’s Dad at the airport and then taking him for a tour of NYC. I wonder if Ray knows what he’s in for! Thanks for all the great messages!

Good to know that someone still comes here :-)










My bike - Posted on 14th May, 2006 at 06:55


Yesterday I cycled around Waterloo on my flash blue bike…the brakes are a bit soft and squeak a bit, but I’ve never been happier not to drive. Having the freedom from both public transportation and gas guzzling cars. It might take me half an hour to reach my destination and I may have to eat an extra slice of bread in the morning…but it puts a big smile on my face when I think about all the money I’m saving.

When I flew out of NZ the gas price was $170.9 per litre. I really had to feel sorry for farmers and other rural people spending a very disproportional amount of their meager income on petrol.

I tried very hard to remember the last time I rode a bike…other than the farm motorbike and relised I haven’t ridden a bike since I lived down in Christchurch. Auckland with its 50 odd volcanoes wasn’t exactly inspiring for me, not to mention the lack of cycle lanes and inconsiderate bus drivers. Although most of the trees in Waterloo have their new buds, there are plenty of tulips, the sidewalk is gold with pollen and white and pink blossoms still blow in the breeze.

As I cycled through the town yesterday, I saw canadian geese, a squirrel, a raccoon and a red cardinal. It felt pretty good to be back. I especially missed the squirrels and chipmunks while I was in NZ.

We have plenty of wonderful birds in NZ, but are rather lacking in native four legged friends. I guess we have the tuatara, but it’s not the most excitable of creatures…remaining motionless for hours on end and I’m obviously ignoring the millions and millions of introduced possums and rabbits. I’m slowly getting over my jet lag, but I’m suffering from the worst headcold/allegies since the last time I was in Canada…*sigh Just as I’m getting over the traveling experience…I’m preparing for my trip down in NYC…although I’m greatly looking forward to seeing the Metropolitan Museum and looking around the city again…I’m not to fussed over the 12 hour bus ride down…grrrr…I still haven’t decided whether I take the bus or the train…I usually love trains…but my first experience was absolutely harrowing.

The train broke down for hours and hours…way out in the sticks…with nothing to eat or drink…or decent toilets or air conditioning. See earlier blog.




Back in Canada - Posted on 12th May, 2006 at 06:26


I made it to Canada safe and sound…there were a few difficulties at Auckland due to the fact the Plane was too heavy lift off and had to have some cargo removed…this in turn made trying to catch my transfer form LAX to Toronto tricky…I ended up running around the airport, but made it to the plane (with my baggage.

) Then there was just getting into Canada. While the U.S was perfectly happy to receive me, I got the third degree from Canada customs.

Strange considering they barely looked at my passport last time I arrived. This time they looked over everything from bank statements, address and asked a zillion questions regarding my trip. After not sleeping for about 48 hours I could under stand why the Americans use sleep deprivation as lubrication for interrogation.

Anyway…I’m here now and recovering from the last few Months in New Zealand. Today the weather in Waterloo was just awful for going outside…but fantastic for curling up inside and recuperate from my jetlag. If it stops raining tomorrow I hope to take a bike and ride around town, looking at pianos and exploring the city.

I will have to get used to ridding on the wrong side of the road again…still the drivers can’t be worse than in Toronto.




Graduation Sillyness - Posted on 5th May, 2006 at 14:00


Here are some photos from my rather belated graduation celebration. In truth it was the first time I actually saw my degree as I graduated in absentee while I was living in Canada.

Now my degree can finally go on the wall down degree hall at Mum’s place. Anyway the lunch was great! I love Don Bo’s…especially their fish laksa…mmmm After picking all the gala, breburn, golden delicious, granny smiths, packham pears, bon cretien pears, grapes, tangelos, grapes, limes…not to mention the FEIJOAs…I have finally finished picking the fruit!

!! I have to say it was a very pleasant feeling driving the last 3 bins out of the orchard.

Right now I’m staying down with Scott and Cat, hacking away at their garden. Who ever thought it was a good idea to plant the whole garden in ivy should be shot. Its take 4 of us with all manners of tools…including spades, clippers, crow bars, chainsaws…not to mention a lot of elbow grease to sort it out and all the dead plants that the ivy strangled *Sigh.

Three trailer loads later…you can actually see the land for landscaping. Shame I’m not around for longer to finish the plans. But with only 2 days to go…I really should get around to packing my bags some time…













My Shadow I - Posted on 4th May, 2006 at 05:57


In my office on Friday At a quarter to four I saw my shadow Slip out the front door With no way of knowing Where my shadow was going “I must find out!

” My curiosity growing I grabbed my trusty Coat, cane and hat And made my way Quickly through the back Down on the street There was no fuss He paid two dimes And caught a bus “Where is he going? I must find out!” So I hailed a taxi To follow him about I followed my shadow At a rate of great knots Till the bus stopped Down at the old docks My shadow got off And got on a boat With a horse and cows Some sheep and a goat I followed my shadow And boarded a ship With a pirate named Roberts And a parrot named Kip Not Knowing where We sailed away We sailed away For a night and a day Until we reached A far distant land With towering rocks And hot white sand There my shadow Got on a camels back And rode into the desert With one single whack “STOP STOP!

” I shouted “Now why can’t you see? That you’re my shadow Your suppose to follow me!” I hired a yak And make great haste “I must find my shadow I’ve no time to waste!

” I rode and I rode Across sand, dirt and rock The sun sizzling hot While buzzards did flock I didn’t know how Much further I could go The sun so hot And the yak so slow Day turned to dusk And still he rode on A tiny black dot And then he was GONE I hurried my yak To catch up quick “He’s getting away!” I said with a kick Then under the moon Way up in the sky In a hot air balloon My shadow flew by I found a balloon vender Whose name was Spike I hired a super speedy Balloon pedal bike I pedaled and pedaled As fast as it would To catch my shadow As soon as I could At the break of day I followed him down I followed him down Back to the centre of town In the midday heat We finally did meet We smiled shook hands Down sunny Fleet Street “I hope you didn’t mind The busses, taxies and boats The camels and yaks And horse and goats!” “You see I like to get out.

I like to be free To adventure about.” Explained the Shadow to me “I find your work Really a bit of a chore All work and no fun Is a bit of a bore!” “I understand completely!

” I smiled meekly “But lets go together Then we can go weekly.” Together we walked Down the old street A happier couple You never did meet From then every Friday At a quarter to four We both go together And slip out the front door




Back at Kai Iwi - Posted on 3rd May, 2006 at 00:21












Visiting Jenni - Posted on 3rd May, 2006 at 00:20









Yeah my IDR arrived today!!

! - Posted on 24th Apr, 2006 at 02:28


Finally I have my international drivers license!!

! I kind of thought it would at least similar to our New Zealand Drivers license, but no…its very different. Looks more like a miniature passport…except someone has written by hand my name and contact details!

What’s more they have given me little cute circles over every i…much the same as I did in high school. You would think that an international document could at least be typed? Oh well.

..at least I’ve got 12 months of international driving…Canada here I come!

I can’t wait to drive across to the East Coast. May be even get to visit Meredith in Maine.






Some Feijoa FYI's.

..not sure if I agree with the added sugar.

.. has anyone ever heard of a Pinapple guava before?

- Posted on 23rd Apr, 2006 at 02:32


The Feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana, synonym Acca sellowiana), also known as Pineapple Guava, is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1-7 m in height, originating from the highlands of southern Brazil and northern Argentina. Whole and cut feijoas. The pulpy fruit is green, chicken-egg-sized, and ellipsoid-shaped.

It has a slightly tart taste, and is not fully ripe until it falls to earth in autumn. Some people prefer to eat the fruit before this occurs. This plant is monotypic in its genus.

Like the closely-related guava, the fruit pulp has a gritty texture which is utlised in some natural cosmetic products as an exfoliant. German botanist Ernst Berger named Feijoa after Don da Silva Feijoa, a Spanish botanist. It is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that will also grow in the tropics but requires some winter chilling to fruit.

In the northern hemisphere it has been cultivated as far north as western Scotland but does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures below about -9°C will kill the flower buds. Large quantities are grown in New Zealand, where the fruit is a popular garden tree, and where the fruit is commonly available in season. It is also possible to buy Feijoa yogurt fruit drinks etc.

in New Zealand. The fruit is usually eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. Sugar can also be added to the exposed surface of the pulp at this time.

If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not available, the feijoa can be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and consumed. An alternative is to bite the end off and then tear the fruit in half length ways, exposing a larger surface with less curvature. The teeth can then scrape the pulp out closer to the skin, with less wastage.

They can even be eaten whole, with only the junction to the plant cut off. The skin does have a rather bitter flavour though, so most people avoid this method. A feijoa can also make an interesting addition to a fruit smoothie Feijoas can at times be slightly rotten inside, without this being extremely obvious from the appearance of the skin or firmness of the fruit.

Because the fruit has only a short shelf life, it is less suited for sale in a grocery store than more durable fruit, because of the effort needed to rotate and sort the fruit, and the wastage involved. Feijoas are therefore shipped when still firm, to minimize these effects. Feijoa flowers Some grafted cultivars are self fertile, most are not and require a pollenizer.

Seedlings may or may not be of usable quality, and may or may not be self fertile. In the native range, the pollinator is a bird, but bees can accomplish some pollination, especially large brawny bees, such as bumblebees or the large carpenter bee.




nz herald artical - Posted on 20th Apr, 2006 at 04:43


Auckland research breakthrough throws light on dyslexia 20.

04.06 By Simon Collins Ground-breaking Auckland University research has found that people with dyslexia appear to be trying to read with a different side of their brains to other people. The research breakthrough, which found that dyslexics try to read with the right side of their brains, may eventually help scientists to work out a way of helping them learn to read.

About 7 per cent of people have dyslexia, where they cannot identify words or letters or connect them to sounds or meanings, or miss out parts of words when they read. The condition is not related to intelligence and has affected many famous people from Leonardo Da Vinci to Albert Einstein. It is believed to be inherited because it runs in families, affects more males than females and is more common among left-handers.

Auckland University psychologist Karen Waldie said overseas studies had found that the left side of the brain, which controls language in about 95 per cent of people, was not activated when people with dyslexia tried to read. Using a new magnetic resonance imaging machine, she has found for the first time that reading produces an increased blood flow in the front right lobes of the brain in people with phonological dyslexia, the most common kind of dyslexia where people cannot associate letters with sounds. "Our images are showing that these folks are reading with the completely opposite side of the brain, in the same area, where you might have more spatial or positional information being processed," she said.

"The implications are for diagnosis, and also for understanding the disorder because the Ministry of Education doesn't recognise it as a neurological disorder. "We can now rule out some misconceptions about it. This is not because of poor education or laziness or behavioural problems or motivational or attention problems.

We are looking at a brain which is atypical." Until now, dyslexia has been regarded as incurable. But Dr Waldie said reading was only a recent development in human history and the new evidence showed that it was not always fixed to the same part of the brain.

"With speech, we have evolved over 50,000 years. That means our left hemisphere is really, really specialised for speech," she said. "Reading is different.

It's more flexible in the way the brain works. It tends to recruit other parts of the brain because reading is complex." She said genetic studies had traced dyslexia to abnormalities in particular chromosomes.

Other studies suggested that the condition developed in the later stages of fetal brain growth in the womb. But her work suggested that the brain might be able to change later in life. "I don't think there will be any magical treatment, but I think the brain might be more plastic than we originally thought," she said.

"We now know that the brain develops and grows over the whole lifespan. Before, we would say that by adolescence, that's it, there's no more development. "So I think there is potential, once we understand the brain better, to help dyslexics.

"




Seamus the Tooth Fairy - Posted on 20th Apr, 2006 at 03:59


Here is the next story for you to enjoy! The original idea came from Cam during one of our brain stroming sessions..

.it's taken me a while to finish..

.and it still can do with some improvements. Feel free to make comments and copy and paste them into emails.

I'm happy to accept any surgestions or ideas. Seamus took his map and list of Children out of his knapsack as he flew towards the centre of town. First on the list was one Miss A.

Dupont at number thirteen Harvard Street. Seamus often wondered why people always insisted on thinking of such boring names for streets. For the rest of the way to his destination Seamus tried to think up some fun names for roads.

There was Wrong Way, Dead End, or lostagain Place. Seamus had certainly ran into plenty of those kind of roads before, but what about Dinosaurs Close, Loopde Loop, Lollipop Lane and Snails Crossing? What fun that would be!

Finally Seamus reached the Dupont’s Residence, now he just had to find a way in. If he was really lucky their would be a window open in the children’s rooms, otherwise he would have to try squeezing under the door or even worse, he would have to come down the chimney. ‘Why do parents have to make things so difficult,’ thought Seamus.

‘Why not just put it in an envelope and leave it in the letterbox with the letters T.F inscribed upon it?’ Seamus could see some curtains rustling in the gentle breeze out side the window of Miss Dupont’s room on the second floor.

Without a second thought, Seamus flew straight through the open window towards the old four-poster bed. Suddenly a large black shape sprung out of the shadows, catching Seamus’s nap-sack in its jaws and shaking him back and forth. “Oh help!

” Cried Seamus, clutching for his wand in his trouser pocket. Seamus had always been awful at defensive charms; things had a habit of going terribly wrong. In Seamus’s fright and panic he waved the wand wildly above his head and “BANG!

” The cat turned into an old grey teapot and fell to the floor with a loud clang. “Oh dear!” said Seamus “Is that you Mummy?

” came a sleepy girls voice. “Oh dear! Oh dear!

” Said poor Seamus. Seamus barely enough time to dive into the toy box before the bedroom door was flung open by Mr. Dupont; striding in to the room to investigate the loud noise, wearing his pink polka dotted Pajamas.

Prodded by strange shaped dolls with blond hair and squished by building blocks, Seamus had to wait uncomfortably for what seemed like hours until everyone in the household were all fast asleep again. He ventured across the floor, crawled under the pillow and exchanged the lost tooth for a golden coin. Seamus flew quickly towards the window and BANG!

Hit some thing with a thud. “Ouch!” groaned Seamus rubbing his head and staring at the closed window.

“Now how will I get out?” Said Seamus. After much difficulty Seamus managed to squeeze under the Miss Dupont’s bedroom door and flew out through the chimney to complete the rest of his evening list.

By the time the sun began to rise Seamus returned back to the Castle tired, sore with burses and black with soot. At the gate Seamus met one of the royal servants waiting for him. There always seemed to be someone waiting for him and it was ALWAYS bad news.

The servant handed him a piece of parchment and left. The note read: (Your presence is required immediately. You are to report to the Queen Tooth Fair at ONCE!

) Seamus gave a long sad sigh and made his way to the royal chambers. “Now Seamus,” began the Queen, “This is the umpteenth disaster this week. How many times to I have to remind you to FOLLOW the golden rules.

Between getting lost, leaving all your money under the wrong pillows, almost bankrupt the palace, not to mention disregarding the second golden rule and tonight almost breaking the first golden rule. ‘A tooth Fairy must never be seen!’ I expect much better from you tomorrow and now, GOODNIGHT!

” Seamus skulked to his room and crawled into bed. “I try to be a good, I’m just no good at being a tooth Fairy. All I want to do is make people happy.

” Seamus set off to work the following night down through the clouds and off towards the countryside. The first tooth collection of the night was one J. Hodges Jr.

who lived with his grandfather Mr. Hodges Sen. Sen.

at number Forty Four Gerald lane. Seamus always liked traveling through the country. The air smelled of sweet fresh grass and royal penny.

Seamus passed a heard of sleeping cows, camped out under the stars, curled up right in the middle of the paddock, surrounded by lush green, green grass all ready for their big breakfast the next day. Seamus flew up Gerald Lane and arrived at the Hodges residence. A beautiful little cottage with a well-tendered garden surrounded by rose bushes.

“Bother!” said Seamus J. Hodges Jr’s windows were all locked fast.

Not wishing a repeat of last nights unfortunately chimney experience, Seamus flew around the cottage searching for a way in. On the far side of the house Seamus found an open window. Remembering the Queen’s Stern words, Seamus cocked his head and listened.

The only sound he could hear was Mr. J Hodges Sen. Sen.

snoring. The snoring was so loud it reminded Seamus of the time he had to collect a young sleeping giants tooth. The giant snored so loudly Seamus had to stick his fingers into his ears every time the giant breathed in.

Seamus peered into the room; all was still, with no sign of Hostile animals. Seamus carefully made his way to J. Hodges Jr’s room, removed the tooth from under his pillow and slipped the coin in its place.

On the way out through Mr. Hodges Sen. Sen.

’s room something on the bedside table caught Seamus’s eye. There in a tall glass filled with strange liquid were two sets of strange white shapes. Seamus flew closer and stopped, stunned in disbelief.

“The Queen is never going to believe this!” said Seamus There in the glass was a whole set of teeth, stuck together in two rows. Seamus left his whole nights worth of coins under Mr.

J. Hodges sen. sen.

’s pillow and fetched the teeth. The teeth were too big for his knapsack, so Seamus had to carry one set under each arm as he flew back to the castle. Smiling to him self and doing a happy jig Seamus hauled the teeth he had found into the royal chambers like they were golden trophies.

Seamus stopped smiling when he saw the Queens stern face. “Why are you home early Seamus and why are you carrying around a set of false teeth under your arms?” said the Queen very unamused.

Seamus was suddenly very embarrassed and went bright red. “I…err…um…” Stuttered Seamus. “I kind of ran out of coins.

” “You mean to say you left your whole nights coins on those ‘false teeth?” Demanded the Queen. “Why this week alone you have cost the palace a fortune in coins.

On Monday you left all your nights worth of coins to a teething baby shark…” “How was I suppose to know fish don’t count?” thought Seamus “On Tuesday you left all your coins to a young giant…” Said the Queen “But it was a really big tooth!” thought Seamus “And tonight you left all your coins to a grandparent for their false teeth?

” Continued the Queen. “Seamus this must STOP! The whole palace is running out of coins.

You are by far the worst tooth fairy in the history of all tooth fairies!” As punishment for his false teeth blunder, Seamus had to spend the rest of the night polishing the castle gates. As the other tooth fairies returned back to the castle from their evening duties they whispered about him, pointed and laughed at him as they passed through the gates.

Seamus overheard comments like: “…and he doesn’t even know how to use a wand yet…so awful he has to report to the Queen daily I heard…doesn’t even know who is parents are…he will never be a tooth fairy!” “All I want is to make people happy!” sighed Seamus The following night Seamus tired very hard to follow all the Tooth Fairy Golden rules and had, had an almost completely successful night.

The last collection for the night was one Miss J. Cook. Seamus didn’t need his map to find this residence.

Mr. and Mrs. Cook had five girls Hannah, Rianah, Susannah, Rosanna and Johanna and all were under 7 years old.

Mr. and Mrs. Cook owned the local delicatessen and always had something yummy cooking over the fire.

Seamus enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Cook’s delicious cooking smell, but not the attention of the family guard dog Brutus, who enjoyed terrorizing Seamus.

All the windows of the Cook Residence were shut tightly. Seamus flew up to the front door and peered through the letter slot. The coast looked clear and all was quiet.

Seamus crept thought the opening, into the kitchen, down the corridor and into the children’s room. There in a large bed slept all five of the Cook girls. “Now if only I could remember which of the five girls is Johanna?

” Said Seamus Careful not to wake the girls, Seamus started to crawl from one side of the bed under the pillows. Seamus felt like a dwarf digging for treasure under a mountain made of feathers as He crawled and crawled and crawled under each pillow till he got to the very last pillow and there was the tooth. He replaced the tooth with the last coin from his knapsack, happy to have completed the night’s collections without an incident.

‘The Queen will be happy’ He thought. Seamus flew from the children’s room down the corridor, into the kitchen and stopped! There sleeping in front of the door was Brutus the dog, guarding the exit.

“Oh help, I’m trapped!” said Seamus sitting on top of the table lamp. There was only one other way out and that was thought the fireplace and up the chimney.

Seamus didn’t like the idea of being turned into fairy toast by the fiery cinders, but neither did he want to end up as Brutus’s midnight snack. Seamus slowly approached the fireplace, its flames rising dangerously high. He held his breath and dashed for the chimney.

Suddenly one of the logs sparked catching poor Seamus’s cloths. He soared up the chimney like a fiery arrow, out the top of the chimney and down, down into a water trough out side the house, landing with a hiss and a splash into the cold water “Now I know how a roasted marshmallow feels!” said Seamus.

Seamus’s clothes were in tatters, ruined by the flames. Poor Seamus picked up his knapsack and had to fly back to the castle with only his shamrock necklace and his knickers. At the castle gate Seamus met one of the royal servants waiting for him.

The servant handed him a piece of parchment and left. The note read: (Your presence is required immediately. You are to report to the Queen Tooth Fair at ONCE!

) Seamus walked into the royal chambers, standing in nothing more than his necklace and his singed green knickers. “Now Seamus…” Began the Queen and then she stopped and stared and stared again at Seamus’s shamrock necklace The Queen’s eyes widened her mouth dropped open. “Send for the Lord of the Lepricorns at once!

” she instructed her royal servants. Moments later with a flash of gold and a cloud of green smoke the Lord of the Lepricorns appeared. He was a little man with a long white beard, a round kindly face and sparkling blue eyes.

He was dressed all in green with even a green pointed hat, boots and even a green handkerchief. “You beckoned, you Highness?” he inquired in a gentle voice and gave a little bow.

“Yes,” said the Queen with a smile. “I think I may have finally solved the mystery of the missing Lepricorn!” The Lord of the Lepricorns looked Seamus up and down for a moment, spied the shamrock necklace, grabbing his hands and began doing a happy jig right there in the royal chambers, spinning around and clicking his heals.

The Dance was so much fun and seemed surprisingly familiar. Seamus forgot all about his lack of clothes and joined in the jig. With another flash of gold and puff of green smoke Seamus and the Lord of the Lepricorns left the royal chambers.

The Queen gave a sigh of relief. She was happy to escape Seamus bankrupting the palace. The Lord of the Lepricorns was happy to have finally found the missing Lepricorn after all these many years.

And you couldn’t find a happier Lepricorn then Seamus, who turned out to be one of the finest in the land. Why in his first week alone he quadrupled the amount of four leaf clovers in every field, He succeeded in tying the end of the rainbow to a mountain so all the towns people could get to the pot of gold and on St Patrick’s day Seamus would soar though the skies over the celebrations, showering the town in gold while doing flips in the air and kicking up his heals with joy. “Finally!

” Said Seamus. “Finally I can make people happy!”






Happy Easter!

!! - Posted on 13th Apr, 2006 at 14:37


Easter just isn’t the same without Hellen with her Easter bunny ears and tail.

Admittedly this is the 2-year I have been away from Family. Mum left me a caramel egg…mmm caramel…and Dad gave me some marshmallow eggs…so I’m already to start celebrating. Unfortunately the Feijoas don’t take holidays…nor the Cats or the gas prices…now over $1.

60 a litre and rising…so it going to be a stay at home holiday. With no farmers market this weekend I’m at a bit of a loss what do to with 14 boxes of feijoas…as kids I remember selling them at the side of the road…I could always try that again. For all those that have read, commented or contributed to my stories I greatly appreciate it.

I’m just about finished my next one…only three to go before I leave. The hard part for me is trying to keep the story less than 10 minutes long…I can’t imagine any parent being happy with their phone line being tied up for 30 minutes with ’Story Line.’ As Hellen pointed out I need to be more ‘focused’ and less ‘wordy.

’ I think what I need is an editor. Any takers?




Cats.

Cats, Cats - Posted on 9th Apr, 2006 at 16:45


I have spent the last three weeks house sitting, Cat sitting and Farm sitting. Not necessarily in that order. I have really enjoyed having such a huge space to live and play in.

However then there are the cats. Until these cats I thought dogs were demanding creatures. No sooner do I even look like I’m preparing to sit and I have cats vying for my lap.

Then there are times I’m busy playing piano or typing and one cat in particular gets right up on to the keys and bunts my hands to remind me of what I’m suppose to be doing. Not to mention they follow me around the house. So much for low maintained animals.

I will be very glad when I can hand them back to Sarah. The Feijoas have landed And I thought the apples and pears were bad! Right now I’m picking about four boxes a day of feijoas.

Crawling around on all fours for hours on end, plus all the sorting is not my favorite activity of choice. Just when you think you have finished clearing an area, you turn around and another dozen have fallen. However, with the Tui singing in the background and fantails keeping me company, the itchy long wet grass isn’t so bad.

Busy weekend This weekend has been one of the most social in a long time. I went to two parties and managed to visit Gran and Granddad, Janneke and Luke, Cam and Co, and Bruce Sue, Zoë and Quinn. Preparations for traveling overseas It seems I have barely unpacked my bags and I’m off again.

If all goes well with passports, visas and what not, I should be able to fly out next month. I’m currently looking at the 10th of May…so if your reading this and I haven’t caught up with you yet…now is a great time to give me a call or drop me an email. The number where I’m staying is (09) 4267070 or for those still in the Northern Hemisphere that want to get in contact.

(649) 4267070. Finally all synced up Better late than never, but as I probably won’t be continuing with globat next year I have synced up all my email accounts with my apple mail. Its taken quite a few hours of downloading…so far I’m down to the last 600!

Oh well!..

.




What a rip! A whole terabyte and I get a limit of 1000 emails.

..boo!

- Posted on 5th Apr, 2006 at 19:10


Ok…and were good! So I had a few email problems the last few days…and I thought that it was just that no one loved me! I got in contact with Globat and discovered that all though I have a terabyte of space I can only hold 1000 emails on their server…and I kind of had that in my sent box alone.

So…after a mass deletion from my sent and trash box…no more emails should bounce. Another reason I love Globat! I wonder if Gmail has a 1000 email limit?

Well anyway…if you have tried to email me over the last 48 hours please send it on again! Cheers!




A little help.

..please!

!! - Posted on 31st Mar, 2006 at 17:34


I'm putting together another story.

I really love the ideas, but would really appreciate a little help. Please leave comments or email me at stories@michaelrobinson.co.

nz The Magic Paintbrush Hannah would often spend hours lying in the long green grass looking up at the sky watching the clouds float bye, trying to guess the creature each cloud contained. She was sure that each cloud had its won special creature if you concentrated hard enough. When the sky was clear and blue, she thought about what she would like to do when she grew up.

When Hannah visited the zoo with her Mummy and Daddy, she was sure she wanted to be a monkey trainer and loved watching the monkey’s play and trying to teach them tricks. While watching Safari documentaries at school, Hannah was sure she wanted to be an explorer, discovering new animals and plants species and charting the unknown lands. At night Hannah would stare at the night sky and wondered what it must be like being an astronought, knowing the secrets of the universe, like whether the moon was really made of cheese or if Melvin really did come from mars.

Hannah was stretched out in a field one day looking up at the sky when some thing fell out and landed with a thud next to her. Hannah got a bit of a surprise, as she had never seen anything fall out of the sky before. The thing had a black handle with a strip of blue and white cloud and beautiful black soft bristles.

“Well, that’s odd!” said Hannah. The brush’s bristles were so soft they tickled her chin when she stroked it against her skin.

Later that day Hannah showed the brush to her Mummy and told her the story of how it fell out of the sky. “Did it just?” said her mother “Why don’t you take that brush and your imagination and put it to work.

There’s paper and paint up stairs.” Hannah had never been very good at painting, her teachers would tell her off for painting over the lines in her colouring-in-book. Hannah tried to paint a big brown fish, but it ended up looking like a big brown blob.

“Hmm…”Said Hannah “That wont do!” As she was pondered what else to paint, some thing strange happened. The blob seemed to wiggle a little and then slowly it opened one eye and then the other and with a bit more effort the blob formed a mouth.

“Heelllooo!” Said the blob. Hannah thought she must be dreaming, as she was sure that blobs couldn’t talk, let alone paintings of blobs.

“I say,” carried on the blob “You could have given me a few more features to work with! But never less the sky’s the limit and I’m here to teach you how to paint!” Hannah spent the rest of the afternoon learning all about correct postures and hand techniques and how to mix her paints to make any colour in the rainbow.

Next she learnt all about how to paint lines. Thin lines, thick lines, and long wiggly curly lines. As soon as Hannah would lift her brush off the paper the line would come to life and zoom all around the page.

By the time Hannah had finished painting for the day, she had to rescue the poor blob that was ducking and weaving just to keep out of the way. “Right,” Said the blob after he relaxed on his empty page. “I think that is quite enough for today’s lesson!

Lets get started first thing tomorrow! Oh and be sure to bring some fruit.” “Thanks!

” said Hannah positively thrilled with her new friend and of course the magic brush. The next morning Hannah woke early, excited about her next lesson. Hannah gobbled down her breakfast, raced though her chores, grabbed some fruit and sprinted up stairs.

“Now Hannah, where could you possible be in such a hurry to?” Said her Mother. “Can’t stop, got to paint!

” Cried Hannah careering up the stairs. “I’m ready.” Said Hannah grabbing her paints and brush.

“Right,” said the Blob “Today we are painting still life.” Hannah arranged the bananas, apple and pears on the table. Her first attempt at painting fruit was a disaster.

The apple looked like a green bowling ball, the pear like a milk jug and the bananas like yellow sausages. Still life didn’t seem very exciting, so Hannah gave each fruit eyes and a mouth. The apple looked at the other fruit and gave a loud laugh.

“So what are you guys supposed to be? The Ugly fruit club?” chuckled the apple.

“Ha,” said the pear “You can talk, you look like your ready to go bowling.” “Boring, boring, boring. Still life is so boring.

” Said the bananas together in unison. Hannah agreed and decided to draw a monkey to spice things up a bit. Next thing the monkey was juggling the fruit up in the air and doing tricks.

Now that s more like it!” said Hannah The blob rolled its eyes. “Your suppose to be painting still life.

It’s supposed to be boring! Now lets see if you can’t paint some more… ahh…fruitier fruit.” Hannah sighed and started again.

By mid morning Hannah had an excellent bowl of fruit all looking good enough to eat. “Hey!” said Hannah as the monkey swung though the painting and snuck off with a banana.

“Now we have the boring stuff out of the way, your next project can be any thing you like.” Instructed the blob Lucy didn’t have to think very long before squeezing some more blue and white paint on to her palette. Lucy set to work on a blue sky and some fluffy light clouds in the background.

Slowly the clouds began to roll in. The first cloud was a big blue sperm whale. It swam into view doing elegant rolls and summersaults, Spurting white cloud.

Next was a galloping zebra, followed closely by a hungry looking tiger. Next a giant boat came steaming across the horizon, followed by a heard of gazelle, elephants and giraffes. And so on and so on.

“Well done!” said the blob “Next lesson is tomorrow afternoon and this time bring a live subject.” Hannah thanked the blob and raced down to fetch her Mother to show off all her fun paintings and to meet her friend the blob.

When Hannah’s mother came up stairs all was quiet. The blob was silent, the Monkey was still, and the fruit it was juggling hung motionless in mid air. Even the clouds had receded back to the horizon.

“But they were all moving.” Said Hannah “Honest.” Hanna’s Mother said that all the paintings looked lovely, gave her a kiss on the head and went down to fix lunch.

The next day Hannah brought Boris her dog along for her next lesson. Boris took a little convincing to stay still, but eventually he curled up and went to sleep. Hannah concentrated very hard and spent the whole afternoon getting the painting just right.

Boris opened his eyes, looked at the painting, cocked his head and gave an excited bark. The Boris on the paper woke up and started barking and wagging its tale. And so it went on all summer during the school holiday.

Lucy with her magic brush, paint and paper, painting up stairs, in the field, up a tree, at the beach and everywhere in between. As the end of Hannah's holidays were drawing near, one night at dinner her mother said “This year your father and I have decided to send you to a private boarding school in town. The education is said to be much better and there will be more pupils your own age.

” “But Mum...

” said Hannah “I don’t like the city, I want to stay in the country with all my friends and animals.” But Hannah’s mother would not listen and so that year Hannah had to move to the city. The different animals and creatures Hannah had painted over the summer grumbled as Hannah carefully packed them all away into a large scrapbook.

The school year did not start well. The art teacher insisted she must only use ‘approved standard school issued equipment’ and made the whole class paint only still life for months and months on end. To make matters worse, the head mistresses insisted that all dorm rooms must remain immaculately tidy and under absolutely no circumstances were any pictures to be attached to the wall.

At the end of Hannah’s classes, she would slump back to her room exhausted. First thing she would do was stand her scrapbook against the wall and let the pages breath. Hundreds of animals and creatures would come streaming out of the book and roomed around the walls enjoying freedom from their confines.

Hannah was extremely careful to ensure all the paintings went back in her scrapbook for fear of being caught or worse…having the painting scrubbed off. Sometimes Hannah would sneak her magic paintbrush into art class, but it usually ended in disaster. Once hung on the wall, her creations never wanted to stay in their own page and ran a muck on other students work.

And of course Hannah was always to blame. Hannah lived a lonely existence; the girls frowned at the weird country girl. Who always had some odd coloured paint on her clothes or hands.

In the evenings Hannah painted in her room and during the weekends she enjoyed taking her painting of Boris the dog for a walk around the city on her canvas bag. The best spots were quiet parks or empty alleys where Boris was free to roam about her bag barking and sniffing. Today the cheeky monkey decided to come along for a ride as well, sneakily snatching things like ice creams and other goodies off advertising boards or drawing moustaches on posters of models when no one was looking.

While walking down a practically deserted street Hannah heard what sounded like a blues harmonica. The music had a sad strange quality about it. As she walked towards the sound of the music odd black dots whizzed bye.

At first Hannah thought maybe they were some kind of insect, but as they passed, Hannah was sure she heard distinctive blues harmonica rifts. As she got closer to the musician the air seemed thick with black dots swarming around a sad young man playing the Harmonica. Hannah watched with wide-eyed amazement.

As the Young man played his soulful music, black dots came shooting out of the Harmonica, circling around him a few times before zooming off in another direction and as the dots circled he would play another blues rift over the circling dots, adding different rhythms and ideas. It was then that Hannah also noticed the strip of blue and white clouds on the front of the harmonica. The monkey gathered a bunch of dots, that had got stuck on Hannah’s bag and alternated between juggling them or clumping the dots together and ridding them around the bag.

Boris was also busy chasing some of the slower dots around Hannah’s bag. “That sounded amazing!” Said Hannah brushing some of the dots out of her hair with her fingers.

“I’ve never heard or seen anyone play like that before.” “Thanks.” Said the boy with a smile.

“Sorry about the dots. They don’t bother most folks. If fact you’re the only other person I know who can see or hear them.

The boy reached down and scratched behind Boris’s ear. Boris was drooling and wagging his tale.